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Asian Salad

Asian salad may refer to any salad recipe made with Asian ingredients and eaten in any of the Asian countries like China, Japan, Thailand and India or other smaller Asian countries. Hence, the term is a broad one and encompasses many different kinds of salad preparations. It is made of raw green vegetables along with combinations like fruit, meat, seeds, noodles or pasta and a salad dressing.

Unlike Western salads, lettuce or tomatoes are not perennial ingredients for the Asian salads. These salads may contain pasta, but the Asian pasta salad is very different from its western counterpart. The salad is now popular in America too, where several restaurant chains are serving variations of an Asian sesame chicken salad.

Asian Salad Recipe Overview

Here is a preparation overview of one of the most popular forms of Asian salads -

To prepare the salad, the ramen noodles are crushed and toasted with sesame seeds and blanched almonds. The salad dressing is prepared by bringing to a boil vinegar, sugar and vegetable oil, and adding soy sauce and sesame oil. The dressing and toasted ramen noodles are mixed into shredded cabbage, cilantro and green onions. The salad is tossed well before serving.

Serving Asian Salad

The salad is mostly served at room temperature, or may be chilled before serving. It is usually followed by a complete meal. The dressing may sometimes be served separately at the table so that any leftovers of the salad don’t get soggy. It is a popular item in barbeques and potlucks.

Asian Salad Recipe Variations

Asian salad can be made in different variations using different flavors and they may vary from vegetarian and non-vegetarian to high-protein and spicy mild, to name a few. Noodles included may be soft cooked or crunchy. Here are some of the most popular Asian salad variants-

Asian Pasta Salad: The salad is prepared with boiled and drained bow pasta, sesame dressing and cherry tomatoes. It is served chilled.

Asian Chicken Salad: To prepare this Asian salad, bite sized pieces of cooked chicken breasts are mixed with lettuce, sliced onions, chow mien noodles and sliced almonds, and is tossed with a dressing made of vinegar, paprika, oil, salt and sugar. The salad is chilled for about an hour before being served.

Asian Asparagus Salad: It is made with cooked asparagus and a dressing of sesame oil, vinegar, grated ginger, dry sherry, soy sauce and sugar. The salad is garnished with sesame seeds, and served hot or chilled.

Asian Salads: Nutritional Information

Asian salad is generally thought of as a food packed with essential vitamins, minerals and proteins as it contains fresh vegetables and fruits in raw form. Though the exact calorie count varies with the kind of salad prepared, a single serving of the common form of Asian salad made of ramen noodles and fresh vegetables contains approximately 300 calories, 25g total fat and 24mg cholesterol.